In the Line of Duty
by lone-poppy
Summary: B/B - I wanted to know more about Booth's family but I have always felt that Booth's parents have passed. So that left me with Jared. Now my Jared is nothing like what I have read about. Rating K for now but will go up.
1. Chapter 1

In the Line of Duty

Big THANK YOU:lj user="kateroly" for beta'ing this for me.

Summary: I wanted to write something that involved Booth's family, however I have always felt that Booth's parents have passed (the way he tells Bones she should just talk to her Mom). So that left me with Jared. Now my Jared is nothing like what I have read in the spoilers.

~x*x~x*x~x*x~x*x~

_**Tuesday 11:20am – August 2008**_

The loud clip of Cam's shoes was the only noise that could be heard in the lab, it was as if the whole building was somehow empty in the middle of a workday. "What happened?" She asked as the door to Angela's office slammed against the wall and she joined her team as they huddled around one of her televisions.

"Some guy just started shooting." Hodgins shot back without diverting his eyes from the screen.

"How did anyone get a gun into the FBI building?" Cam all but mumbled to herself in disbelief.

"They said that four agents have been shot, at least one of them is dead." Angela dropped the tone of her voice to match the grimness of the situation as she shifted her eyes from the television screen; now that her office door was open she could see Tempe pacing the hall, continuously pressing the speed dial on her cell phone. "She's convinced that he'll answer."

"She doesn't think perhaps he's a bit busy right now?" Cam replied as she also turned her attention to the corridor outside Angela's office.

~x*x~x*x~x*x~x*x~

_**4:55pm**_

The loud clip of Cam's heels had been replaced by the steady squeak of the guard's shoes as he passed back and forth at the entrance to the lab's platform. Everyone was back at work but the veil of silence hadn't been lifted; Tempe focused more on her cell that rested on the of the autopsy table than the bones that were laid out neatly in front of her.

The phone served as a reminder that he hadn't returned any of her calls; that as yet no one knew what had happened at the FBI building.

Angela had been sitting in the corner with her sketchpad resting on her lap. Without thought she pulled herself to her feet and flicked on a monitor just in time to hear the five o'clock news.

"_We lead today's early edition with confirmation that a second FBI agent has died in hospital after being rushed from the scene of this morning's shooting at FBI Headquarters. As yet the names of the two deceased agents are being withheld until their families have been notified, however we can confirm the names of the wounded as Special Agent Colin Bales and Supervisory Special Agent Kerry Jones. _

_We cross to our reporter Glenn Moore live on scene. Glenn we believe that the shooter's name was Greg Olen Pain, what can you tell us?"_

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the screen as it cut in half to show the FBI Building in the background with a grim looking man standing in front of it holding a microphone while the other half displayed the presenter safety tucked in his studio with the compassionate nod of the head as the reporter spoke.

"_No details have been released to the media on site. As you can see Brian, The J Edgar Hoover Building has been cordoned off as the investigation continues into how the gunman was able to enter the building and perhaps more importantly why he opened fire, fatally wounding two Agents and injuring two others who are believed to be still in surgery." _

"_Are we able to confirm if Greg Olen Pain killed himself or if he was in fact shot dead in the exchange of gun fire?"_

Brennan hit the power button on the monitor with an open hand before she reached over and grabbed her cell, and the few files she could find in easy reach as she pushed her way past her still shocked colleagues.

x~x*x~x*xx~x*x~x*x~x

_**October 2007**_

The letter to Parker had been easy; as easy as these letters ever were to write. It was knowing that he would take whatever he'd written at face value, that somehow just telling a five year old how much you love him was enough. He still wrote a letter each to his parents even though they were gone. The letter to Rebecca consisted more of his plans for Parker and how much he would miss him and all but begged her to never let him forget his father. And normally the last letter was reserved for his brother, as little as they had to do with each other these days he knew that Jared would do the same for him.

Grabbing his beer Booth let the pen fall from his other hand; _'Bones'_ was still the only word on an otherwise blank piece of paper. Booth had started writing these letters when he was first deployed overseas and updated them every year on the anniversary of that deployment. Today that anniversary happened to coincide with a maniac madman trying to kill them with a scattergun. More to the point he tried to kill Bones to draw him out.

But here he sat at two in morning doing what he did every year. Every year he wrote to the same people, updated a few stories and sent them to his lawyer and besides Parker he'd never added anyone to the list, but here he sat with one word staring back at him.

~x*x~x*x~x*x~x*x~

_**Tuesday 7:24pm - August 2008**_

"Heard anything?" Cam asked as she leaned against the doorframe at the entrance to Tempe's office.

"No … I called the FBI but they really weren't very helpful." Tempe paused for a moment thinking how rude the women on reception had been when she called. "I would try to make contact with his brother but I do not know the number or even the state that he lives in."

"Philly. Jared, Booth's brother, lives in Philly but they don't talk, they haven't really had a lot to do with each other since their Dad passed away."

"Well I am sure that he is okay or someone would have called by now." Tempe said as a way of putting the worry to one side so she could continue to work.

Cam paused for a moment as she watched Brennan open a file and start to work on it, "We're going to get a drink … you want to come?"

"No I just need to finish---" Tempe stopped unsure what to do, unsure if she was seeing things. "Why didn't you call?"

"I'm just here and…" Cam sounded a little confused as she tried to answer the question.

"I think she means me." Booth said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank god you're alright," Cam hugged Booth quickly and pulled away, turning back to Tempe as she did. "I'll let the others know."

Tempe watched as Booth turned his attention from Cam to her, "You didn't answer my question."

"I thought I'd just come over."

"We … they thought you were dead. I didn't think you were dead but everyone else thought you were dead or injured." Tempe dropped her head so he couldn't see her face, hoping that if he couldn't see her than maybe her voice wouldn't give away how scared she was.

"Bones," was all he said as he moved his way around to the side of her. "Tempe," his voice was now just above a whisper as he pulled her chair in front of him. "I'm fine."

"You should have answered your phone." Were the last words she was able to get out before he pulled her into a hug and all she could hear was his voice softly reassuring her that he was fine, that he was safe.

x~x*x~x*x~x*x~x*x~

_**Three Days Later **_

"Come on Bones not even you can deny it." Booth held open the door to the diner to allow Bones to walk under his arm.

"I can."

"Well go on tell me your rational explanation then."

"I would have to complete full scientific study---"

"So you can't deny it?"

"I can I just have …" It was a few steps before Brennan realised that Booth wasn't right behind her anymore and as she turned she noticed that his focus had shifted to a man sitting at the counter. "Booth?" She questioned in a quieter tone. "Booth, who is it?"

"Who?"

By his tone Brennan could tell that he wasn't even listening, "Booth who is that?" She made sure her voice was loud enough to get his and everyone around hers full attention.

Booth spun around on the spot and used his hands to try and guide her out of the diner, "Let's go."

"What? Why?" She almost tripped over her own feet as Booth continued to push her out the door. "Booth. Stop! Who is that?"

"Bones let's just go."

"Seeley." The man called out from the bar of the diner.

Bones was trying to turn back to the see who the voice belonged to even as Booth continued to push them out the door. "Booth that man is calling after you."

As suddenly as he had started pushing them he stopped, almost frozen to the spot. "Yeah." He turn as Bones craned her neck around him to see who he was trying to avoid.

x~x*x~x*x~x*x~x*x~x

"Booth …" Tempe's voice was a mixeture of confusion and her natural curiosity.

He could hear her voice but his focus was on someone else, "What are you doing here?" Booth addressed the man who was now only a few feet away from them.

"I guess your lawyer didn't get the memo that you were still alive until after he sent these with a note that I was to deliver them." Jared tilted his head toward a neat stack of envelopes sitting on the counter top.

"What are they?" Bones pointed to the envelopes.

"They're letters Bones." Booth made sure his tone was blunt; he was hoping that she would take the hint to stop asking questions, only he knew that his tone like everything else he'd ever tried was not going to keep her quiet. "Please let me take care of this."

"You're Bones … then this is for you." Jared picked up the thickest of the envelopes and held it out for her to take.

"No! It's not." Booth snatched it from Jared.

"Booth that had my name on it."

"No," Booth dropped the level of his voice to almost a whisper. "No it didn't. It had Bones written on it. Just Bones, nothing else." Booth said as he pushed the envelope into his jacket pocket. "Now please."

"Hi I'm Jared." He reached past Booth, his arm outstretched.

"Dr Temperance Brennan." Bones paused for a moment, "Jared, you're Booth's brother? Your structure is nothing alike, in fact---"

"Okay," Booth stepped in between them. "Bones can you wait in the car for me?" He watched as she started to protest. "Please just wait in the car … please." He waited until she was out of the diner before he turned his attention back to his brother. "What are you doing here?"

"I went to your office and one of the agents told me you eat here." Jared let his eyes scan the diner. "A lot."

"Not _here_. Here in this city, why now?"

"You called."

"I called six months ago to tell you I was still alive and you hung up on me." Booth pushed his hand through his hair. "I called every year, on your birthday, on their birthdays, Christmas - I called for 8-years … I called." Booth turned to walk away, but turned back and took a step closer to his brother. "Do you even know that you have a nephew?" But he didn't wait for a response. "The greatest kid in the world … It was the best day of my life and you wouldn't even take my call." Booth pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, followed quickly by Parker's picture and slapped it down on the counter so hard the whole diner came to a stop from the sudden noise.

"Seeley, when you were shot the lawyer sent me these letters and your instructions---"

"No …You do not get to show up now," Booth turned his back on his brother for a moment "They told you I was dead … six months ago they made the next of kin call and you told them not to call you. I had to … I had to try and explain that. But when I called you … when I called to tell you I wasn't dead, that it was a mistake you told _**me**_ not to call … so you don't get to just show up … not now." Booth took a few seconds to look his brother in the eye before he pushed the door open with almost as much force as he'd hit the counter.

~X~X~X~X~X~

Without the keys Temperance couldn't wait in the car; instead she had leaned on the passenger door until she saw Booth and pushed herself off the SVU. "Booth?"

"Do you want to go back to the lab?" He asked as he pushed the remote to open the car.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Temperance asked as she opened the door.

"I'm fine."

"I didn't ask if you were fine, I asked if you wanted to talk about why you're so angry about seeing your brother."

"I'm not angry." Booth dropped himself into the driver's seat.

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not. Now do you want to go back to lab or do you want me to take you home?"

"What was in the envelope?"

"Nothing Bones, so can you please just get in the car." His voice was getting louder and more impatient with each word.

"Booth why won't you talk to me?" Temperance was still standing on the sidewalk waiting, not sure she really wanted to get in the car with Booth while he was like this.

"Bones get in the car."

"No," Tempe firmed up in her stance, crossing her arms as did.

"No?"

"Not until you tell what's going on."

"Fine." Was the last word Tempe heard him say before the car pulled away from the curb.

More than a little shocked that Booth really had left her standing on the sidewalk she took a few steps away from the diner toward the lab before she quickly changed her mind and headed back into the diner.

Pulling out the stool next to Jared, Tempe noticed he was turning a picture of Parker around in his hand. "You have the same facial structure as Parker. The same chin and cheek lines, this would have to come from one of your parent's genetic makeup as neither Booth nor Rebecca have these features.

"He looks like Mom."

"Booth didn't want you to come here." Tempe had never known how to ease her way into anything and she didn't see any reason to start now.

"Yeah I kind of got that too." Jared said with a bit of a smile.

"I don't understand why because he always talks about how important family is, how proud he is of what you have achieved."

"I'm surprised he mentions me at all." Jared replied as he wrapped his hand around the disposable coffee cup, letting the picture of Parker rest back on the counter top. "I'm not really someone he could be proud of."

"Booth is very proud of you." Bones protested. "He's always talking about your parents and what it was like in Pittsburgh … He taught me just how important family is." Tempe knew that Jared hadn't looked at her yet and she wanted to know what had been said after she'd left them alone. "He still talks to your parents. Now that I really don't understand."

"Y'know what's funny … I never talk about him." Jared took the first sip of a now cold cup of coffee, "If you asked the people I work with they wouldn't even know that I had an older brother."

Tempe didn't know how to respond to Jared's statement, in her mind the Booth family had been like the ones she would see on television when she was young. It was the way Booth talked about family that made her hope that one day she might even get that for herself. It was Jared voice, a voice almost identical to Booth's that pulled her from her thoughts.

"I should be the one to be proud. But you probably hate me too." Jared tapped the counter a few times. "Hell I hate me."

"I don't know what you mean?" Tempe was more even more confused, she has come in to get answers but the more Jared talked to her the less she knew.

"He doesn't tell you much about himself, does he?"

"I know." Tempe stopped when she realised that apart from the small pieces she had learnt about Booth she really didn't know anything about his life before he came to be at the FBI. She knew why he was at the FBI, she knew his motivation but not his life. Sure she could tell Jared a few things that she knew from looking at x-rays but even when she asked him he wouldn't tell her about it.

"Yeah Seeley has always been like that. Dad wanted better than the military for his eldest son. Wanted both of us to go to college, wanted us to have more then he had." He turned the picture around so that it was now upside down. "You see we didn't have a lot and Dad couldn't even afford to send one of us to college … so Seeley joined the army. He could study and they would pay him. Did you know he graduated top of his class?"

"No." Tempe kept her voice low; she had often mocked Booth for being less than she was and he had never corrected her. She was sure that she was still more intelligent by far, but he never said anything.

"That's Booth. He went to college and in between snipper training for the Rangers he studied for a degree. At Ranger school they make them carry packs that weight 100 pounds. All the things they will need when they are dropped in the middle of nowhere. They make them carry these packs around for days on end, with only enough food for two meals a day and they keep them awake for 20-hours a day. But do you know what Booth did?" Jared paused for a moment, "He put his text books into the pack, so he could study when they were done for the day. Four hours sleep and Booth studies." For the first time he turned to look at Tempe. "He was almost killing himself so he could send money home; money that allowed me to go to college without a care in the world."

Jared offered Tempe a cold chip off his plate before he continued, "When you're in the Rangers they don't tell the family what is happening, so you think your loved one is in the US and the whole time they're hiding in some cave half way across the world. We found out he'd been deployed when his Commanding Officer came to the door … it was a Sunday and Mom was worried because Booth always called her before church and he hadn't called. So right in the middle of Sunday lunch an officer sits across from us at the table and says that Seeley is MIA."

"That's when he was captured and tortured." Tempe didn't mean to interrupt but it was more than she knew she'd get from Booth.

"Well they wouldn't tell us anything. But the Officer just kept talking and telling Mom and Dad how proud they can be of Seeley, how impressed he was with him during training and how he would always help a weaker solider, that he would pull everyone through with him. By the time he left Dad was convinced that Seeley had been killed and the army just wouldn't confirm it … four days later Dad died of a heart attack, I think it was the stress of not knowing for sure that killed him and Mom went before we even found out that he had been rescued."

"Seeley came home with broken ribs and feet, his face was so swollen that you almost couldn't recognise him. The first thing he was told was that his parents had passed and I was so angry. The army gave him a medal and early honourable discharge for his bravery so he could come home and look after what was left of his family. He came home to look after me." Jared quickly pulled out the letter addressed to Parker and placed his photo on top of it. "I didn't see how broken he was and I don't mean his bones, I just blamed him for Mom and Dad and I didn't see what he went through so I could have everything, I didn't see what he gave up. I left him in Pittsburgh and went back to college, I wouldn't take his calls and by the time I found out he was gambling, he was in deep, so I bailed him out eased my conscience in relation to any debt I owed him and told him … the last thing I said to him was I never wanted to see him again. After all he did I just told him that was it and walked away. That he was a loser and I was done with him." Jared took a breath and looked down at his hands. "Did he ever tell you about that?"

"No."

"Yeah," Jared stood and dropped the two remaining envelopes next to her. "Tell him he should tell people how he feels instead of writing it in letters." Jared went to walk away, "Tell him I'll take his calls … tell him I'll call him."

x~x*x~x*x~x*x~x*x~x


	2. Where is she?

In the Line of Duty - PART TWO

~*~*~*~*~

_**10:20pm**_

Booth had been pacing back and forth for almost half an hour now and still no sign of her. Her cell was off. He'd been to the Jeffersonian, Angela's and even his office. When she wasn't at home, he'd gone back to the diner and driven every possible route he could think of that would lead her to the Jeffersonian until he'd found himself once again at her front door.

'_Where the hell was she?'_ His mind was racing, _'How could I just have left her standing there. What was I thinking ... I should have come back sooner.' _The ping of the elevator caused him to spin quickly to his left; Tempe was walking towards him with her head down, focused on finding her keys in her bag.

"Where the hell have you been?" His voice was full of force and harsher than he had intended, but Booth has been so happy to see her he hadn't realised until he saw her jump at the sound of his voice.

"Booth! What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you!"

"Well, you found me." Tempe's voice was flat as she pulled her keys from her bag.

"Where have you been?" His tone barely masked the tension that was still causing him to dance from one foot to the other, until he finally he lost patience with her and grabbed the keys from her hand to open the door.

"Talking to Jared."

"My brother Jared?" Booth's voice was strained as he dropped her keys onto the kitchen counter.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You left me on the foot path." Tempe's tone stayed very matter-of-fact as she replied to Booth's question.

"I didn't leave you; you wouldn't get in the car."

"And you left me."

"I didn't leave, I drove around the block, and when you weren't there I went to your lab, Angela's and here ..." Booth knew he needed to lower the tone of his voice but he wasn't sure it was going to be possible, drawing in a deep breath, he continued, slowing his words just hoping that it would help. "Why would you do that?"

"I wanted to find out why you wouldn't." Tempe sat on one of her bar stools. "And he told me."

"Well Jared and I have a very complicated relationship so I'm sure he told you something but I doubt it was the reason why." Booth had dropped his voice from its high pitch of a few seconds ago to lower than his normal tone.

"He wanted me to tell you that he would call you."

"I don't think he will and y'know that's okay with me." Booth dropped his head and tapped the counter a few times. "Been okay for a while now."

"Jared said that you shouldn't write letters; he said you should tell people how you feel."

"Really, Jared said that _**I**_ should talk?"

"You could forgive him, I mean that's part of what you believe isn't it? He has forgiven you so I would think that you could forgive him."

"He has forgiven me ... well that's just big of him isn't it."

"Booth I don't understand---"

"No Bones you don't! So just stay out it, for once can you just stay out of it?" With that Booth tapped the bench a few times, "And would you please not turn your cell off."

"Can I read my letter now?"

"It's not your letter."

"It has my name on it."

For the first time that night Booth smiled back at her, "No it doesn't."

_**~*~*~*~*~*~**_

_**Ritz-Carlton Georgetown – 11:55pm**_

Booth didn't care about the hour as he banged on room 3211. "Jared!" He didn't even give the occupant time to answer before he started to bang on the door again. "Jared I know you're in there."

Before Booth had the chance to bang on the door again it was pulled open, "And now so does the rest the hotel." Jared pulled a sweatshirt over his head. "For god's sake Seeley it's almost midnight."

"I don't know why you came here and I really don't care, but you stay away from Bones. You stay away from Bones and you stay away from Rebecca and Parker … just forget whatever you've got planned and go back to your nice comfortable life." Booth finally stopped yelling long enough to scan the room his brother was in. The small part he could see was easily twice the size of his apartment. "Nice room." Booth said in a normal tone as if to say goodbye to his brother.

"You could come in, find out why I'm here." Jared said, but all he could really do was watch his brother walk away. "I read them." It was a desperate attempt to try and stop his brother from leaving and it worked. Those few words brought Seeley to an instant and complete stop, his shoulder falling forward a little as he did. "It took me too long but I came. You wrote that you wished we could work things outs … I'm here Seeley." Jared had to wait, unsure if Booth was going to just walk away or stay.

"Well I guess it's just too late." Booth didn't even turn around.

*~*~*~*~*


End file.
